By: Ronaldo Covarrubias

Elections for a new president come around every four years, the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, and they are always a great deal for the country. The election process begins with the primary elections and caucuses and moves to nominating conventions, where political parties each select a nominee to unite behind.

The nominee proceeds to announce a Vice Presidential running mate at this time to run with them. The candidates then campaigns across the country to explain their political views and plans to voters and participate in debates with candidates from other parties.

Many people don’t know that the Electoral College is what ultimately decides who will be President of the United States. When a person goes out to vote on voting day for a President, they are really voting for Electors of that party who will then elect the popular candidate in their state. So in other words, a voter does not directly pick who should be President but selects someone who will select the candidate, so saying that your vote doesn’t count is a bit of an understatement.

Many believe that people should be the ones who directly decide who will be President. This would be a direct democracy and it does not exist in America. Instead, we elect officials to pass and deliberate on legislation on our behalf, also known as representative democracy.

Political parties are an important part of voting as well as the election process. Political parties have an great influence on the candidates’ views, which they use to appeal to their followers. In the United States there are many political parties but the most popular are: Republican, Democratic and Libertarian. Republicans tend to be more conservative while Democrats are progressives and Libertarians are for a much more limited government. Parties usually influence the candidates positions on topics, views on social issues and even on moral values. We have these parties to make it easier for people to decide who they should side with, based on their own views and how they correlate with the candidates.

Personally, I do not identify myself with any political party because I feel like I share similar ideas on different issues. However if I absolutely had to follow a candidate blindly, I would probably select the Democratic candidate because they tend to support the middle class more and are a voice of the majority of America. In the end of it all, it really doesn’t matter which is in power because their power is limited through Congress. And in the end of it all, big corporations are what really run the country and the economy.